Ultimate Shabbat Cinnamon Noodle Kugel 

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What is noodle kugel?

Noodle kugel is a customary Jewish dish served on Shabbat, or the Sabbath (the seventh day of the week and their day of rest). For them it symbolizes the mana that fell from heaven and nourished the Jews during the 40-years spent in the wilderness.

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs
• 1⁄2 cup oil
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup crushed pineapple (with the juice from the can)
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 12 ounces medium-sized egg noodles, cooked according to the package directions

Make-Ahead Tip: This recipe freezes well. You can prep and cook the muffins in advance and store them in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 months. If using a 9×13 sized baking dish, bake for about 45 minutes or until edges are set and slightly crispy.

Nutrition:

Per serving: Calories: 278; Total fat: 12g; Total carbs: 37g; Fiber: 1g; Sugar: 17g; Protein: 6g; Sodium: 129mg

Instructions:

Servings: Makes 12 muffins or one 9×13 pan

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 to 25 minutes for muffins, 45 minutes for 9×13 pan

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, applesauce, crushed pineapple, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the cooked noodles to the bowl and mix well.

3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins are set and the edges are slightly crusty.

About This Recipe

If home is where the heart is, my heart will always be in my mom’s kitchen in Brooklyn. It was the center of our home and where we all connected as a family. We were different ages (there are 11 of us) but we all gathered together in that kitchen, surrounded by our mother’s food and love. Some of my very first memories are as a young girl watching my mother prepare food for Shabbat, eagerly waiting for that first bite of kugel, fresh from the oven.

It’s where I first learned to cook. I was in high school when my mom first got sick. I wanted to do something for my family, so one Friday I went into my mother’s kitchen and decided to cook her recipes for Shabbat. We hadn’t had my mother’s food for such a long time; I just wanted it to feel normal again. Even for just one meal. I cooked Shabbat dinner for my siblings and my father and I will never forget sitting around the table and seeing my family smiling at that moment. Right then and there, I realized the power food has to heal and the comfort a home-cooked meal can bring. I spent the rest of the year cooking for my family until my mom got better. My mother’s kitchen is where my passion for cooking and feeding the people I love comes from.

I got married, moved across the country, became a mom, and then got divorced and still, I would keep coming back to that kitchen. When my mom passed, I would fly home to visit my dad and he loved watching me cook in her kitchen. He said it reminded him of my mother. He would sit at the kitchen table and I would try and cook as many of her recipes as I could. As if each dish could somehow bring her back. He recently passed and we no longer have our childhood home. There’s no flying home to cook in that kitchen. My mom’s kitchen.

Now, when I want to feel close to her I cook and share her recipes from my kitchen in Los Angeles. It’s not the same, but each time I make one of her signature dishes, my kitchen smells like my childhood and at that moment it feels like home.

If you could honor my mother by making her recipes, it will keep a part of her here in this world with us. Yehudis Chava Bat Yakov Dov. May her memory be a blessing.

This is her recipe for sweet noodle kugel. While the sweet cinnamon-laced noodles almost taste like dessert, tradition has me serving them alongside chicken and potato kugel during the Shabbat meal. My mother would cook this recipe as one large kugel in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; however, I like the individual-size portions you get from a muffin tin, making it easier for serving.

This story was submitted to Love What Matters  by Nina Baitz. You can follow her recipes on Instagram, Facebook, and her blog. Submit your own story  here, and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.

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